Biographies

"Did they tell you stories about the saints of old,
stories about their faith?
Stories like that make a boy grow bold,
stories like that make a man walk straight..."

Rich Mullins, Boy Like Me, Man Like You

Stories about people have a way of affecting us in ways other stories can't. The Bible is primarily stories about people, and it is through these multiple biographies that we understand human nature, the history of redemption, and even to a great extent God Himself. The purpose behind any other biography is largely the same—to help us understand what it means to be human from the examples (sometimes even the bad examples) of those who have preceded us.

The biographies we have chosen for this section represent those of great leaders in history, social and military heroes, and Christian saints past and present who struggled to conform their lives to Christ's perfect example. We have avoided for the most part biographies of history's villains and chronic immoralists, not because they aren't interesting but because they don't represent lives worthy of imitation. We've also decided not to focus on athletes, actors, and celebrities, unless they've made important contributions outside their fields. That's not to say everyone found here was above reproach or even a Christian, but they all demonstrated real human virtues for which they are remembered.

Biographies are also useful for better understanding of a given historical period. While history books can provide good overviews of a period or events, the intimate detail of a good biography can better illustrate a time period and what it was like to be alive then. This also serves to demonstrate the universality of human nature, that people will behave basically the same during any given period and in any given place. Sometimes we get the impression that people of the past, especially people like missionaries and ministers, were somehow more pious than we are—the personal view offered by a good biography dispels this myth and offers encouragement that not even the best men and women are any closer to perfection than we are.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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171 Items found Print
Active Filters: 5th grade (Ages 10-11), Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
Abe Lincoln
by Hilah Paulmier (compiled and edited by), illustrated by Lee Ames
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln (hardcover)
by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire; edited by Rea Berg
75th Anniversary from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 1st-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$21.95
Adventures of Herge
by Michael Farr
from Last Gasp
for 4th-10th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$29.95
Alexander the Great
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. Holbrook; illustrated by Lynd Ward
9th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Heroes of the 20th Century
Landmark Giant #14
by Harold & Doris Faber
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Calkins Creek
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$19.99
Bach's Goldberg Variations
by Anna Harwell Celenza & JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$16.95
Bad Girls Throughout History
by Ann Shen
from Chronicle Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
by R. Conrad Stein
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Between the Lines
by Sandra Neil Wallace; illustrated by Bryan Collier
from Simon and Schuster
for 2nd-6th grade
$9.00 (1 in stock)
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Brothers Grimm
by Raymond H. Miller
from Thomson Learning
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Delacorte Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Charles A. Lindbergh
by James Cross Giblin
from Clarion Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London
by Andrea Warren
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Chopin
by George Ruttkay
from Hyperion Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
Sowers Biographies
by Bennie Rhodes
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Citizen Tom Paine
by Howard Fast
from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Governor
by J.G.E. Hopkins, illustrated by William Wilson
from P.J. Kenedy & Sons
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$29.95
D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$22.95
David Livingstone
by Ben Alex
from Victor Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Dime a Dozen
by Nikki Grimes, Illustrated by Angelo
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Doctor Like Papa
by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, Illustrated by James Bernardin
First Edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
1999 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Elizabeth Prentiss
by Sharon James
from Banner of Truth Trust
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$26.00
Emancipation Proclomation
by Tonya Bolden
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 4th-9th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers & Discoverers - 4 Volume Set
from UXL Publishing
biographical encyclopedia for 5th-8th grade
in World History Reference (Location: HISW-REF)
$30.00 (1 in stock)
First Starry Night
by Joan Shaddox Isom
from Charlesbridge
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Five Roads to the White House
by Ann E. Weiss
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
For You They Signed
by Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$27.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Forging Freedom
by Hudson Talbott
from Putnam Juvenile
for 3rd-6th grade
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Forward March to Freedom
by Barbara Kay Greenleaf
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Frances Hodgson Burnett: Beyond the Secret Garden
by Angelica Shirley Carpenter, Jean Shirley
1st edition from Lerner Publishing Group
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Francis and Clare, Saints of Assisi
by Helen Walker Homan
Stated First Printing from Vision Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$15.00 (2 in stock)
Francisco Pizarro and the Conquest of the Inca
by Gina DeAngelis
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
From the Eagle's Wing
by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from William Morrow & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Galileo
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Macmillan
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Medal winner
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Genius
by Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
for 5th-9th grade
2006 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington
by Heather Lehr Wagner
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gertrude Chandler Warner and the Boxcar Children
by Mary Ellen Ellsworth
1st edition from Albert Whitman & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Good Queen Bess
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Great Discoveries and Amazing Adventures
by Claire Llewellyn
from Kingfisher
for 4th-8th grade
in Archaeology (Location: HISRF-ARCH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Great Explorers
by Joyce Grosseck & Elizabeth Attwood
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
1st edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Haydn's Farewell Symphony
by Anna Harwell Celenza & JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$16.95
Haym Salomon: Liberty's Son
by Shirley Milgrim, illustrated by Richard Fish
from Jewish Publication Society
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Herbert Hoover Story
by Catherine Owens Peare
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Heroes of the Army in America
by Charles Morris
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Homesick: My Own Story
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Horseman of the King
by Cyril J. Davey
1970 printing from Christian Literature Crusade
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
How I Learned Geography
by Uri Shulevitz
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 2nd-5th grade
Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$21.99
Hudson Taylor
by Ben Alex,
from Victor Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
I Sailed with Columbus
by Susan Martin
Xlibrary Copy. from Overlook Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Inventing the Future
by David Edward Sloane, Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Irenaeus of Lyons
Heroes of the Faith
by Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
from Banner of Truth Trust
for 3rd-6th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$14.00
Jeb Stuart
Historical American Biographies
by Lynda Pflueger
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Joan of Arc
by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Robert Rayevsky
1st edition from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
John Calvin
Christian Biographies for Young Readers
by Simonetta Carr
1st edition from Reformation Heritage Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$18.00
John Knox
by Simonetta Carr
from Reformation Heritage Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$18.00
John Paul Jones
by Norma Jean Lutz
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Jonathan Edwards
Christian Biographies for Young Readers
by Simonetta Carr
from Reformation Heritage Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$18.00
Journal of Augustus Pelletier
Dear America
by Kathryn Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Karl, Get Out of the Garden!
by Anita Sanchez
from Charlesbridge
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Kennedy Assassinated! The World Mourns
by Wilborn Hampton
from Candlewick Press
for 5th-9th grade
1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Kit Carson: Folk Hero and Man
by Noel B. Gerson
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Legends of the Wild West
by James A. Crutchfield, Bill O'Neal, Dale L. Walker
from Publications International
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Norman V. Marshall
from Silver Burdett Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer
by Robert Byrd
1st edition from Dutton Children's Books
for 3rd-5th grade
2004 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Letters: The Story of Pocahontas, 1613
Liberty Letters
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zondervan
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Librarian Who Measured the Earth
by Kathryn Lasky
from Little, Brown & Company
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99 $12.00 (2 in stock)
Lights! Camera! Alice!
from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Lincoln the Unknown
by Dale Carnegie
from Forest Hills Publishing Co.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lincoln's Little Correspondent
by Hertha Pauli, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Lindbergh Alone
by Brendan Gill
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 4th-9th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Lives of Extraordinary Women
by Kathleen Krull
from Harcourt Children's Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lotta Crabtree
by Lois V. Harris
from Pelican Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Luther
by Frederick Nohl
from Concordia Publishing House
for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.99 $7.50 (4 in stock)
Madam President
by Catherine Thimmesh, Illustrated by Douglas B. Jones
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Elise Primavera
First Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Many Thousand Gone
by Virginia Hamilton
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo
by Charles P. Graves
from Chelsea House Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (3 in stock)
Marco Polo
by Nick McCarty
from National Geographic
for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo and the Medieval Explorers
by Rebecca Stefoff
from Chelsea House Publishing
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Marie Durand
Christian Biographies for Young Readers
by Simonetta Carr
from Reformation Heritage Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn
by Stewart Ross, illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Viking Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Martin Luther
by Sally Stepanek
from Chelsea House Publishing
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Mathew Brady: Photographing History
by Manual Komroff, with photographs by Mathew Brady
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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